


tag, you're it

by inseaslikethat (Sotong_sotong)



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Gen, Homura manipulating her different selves, Self-Destruction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 08:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9538904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sotong_sotong/pseuds/inseaslikethat
Summary: She opens her eyes to the same drag and pull.(The same blanket. The same hospital room. The same day.)She opens her eyes and wants to close them again, but eternity’s not the same for Homura any longer.Now, it’s all abouttime.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ideallyqualia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [ideallyqualia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ideallyqualia/pseuds/ideallyqualia) in the [selfcestfest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/selfcestfest) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> so what if homura's time traveling somehow created multiple copies of herself from different timelines? or/and what if she can meet her original self before she was a magical girl? (i selected gen but it doesn't have to be gen.)

She opens her eyes to the same drag and pull.

(The same blanket. The same hospital room. The same day.)

She opens her eyes and wants to close them again, but eternity’s not the same for Homura any longer.

Now, it’s all about _time_.

 

***

 

Sometimes she wants to ask herself:

a) _how many times now have you rewound time?_

b) _how many times more do you need to do it?_

~~c) why are you the only one like this?~~

But she opens her eyes and finds no answer.

 

***

 

One day she opens her eyes and finds another girl.

The girl looks exactly like her, from the unevenly tied pigtails and fidgety shoulders, all the way to the tears that track down her cheeks like unintended streams. Her sobs wrack her body; an earthquake of growing grief within her.

The girl lifts her face and the first thing she says is: _I’m sorry_.

(Homura has never come across such a perfect mirror before.)

“But what did you do?” Homura asks.

 _I couldn’t save_ **her**.

And isn’t it sad, how history always seems to repeat itself? She reaches out her fingers, and taps them softly against her counterpart’s forehead before smoothing her fringe back. Resignation lies darkly in Homura’s throat. “I’m sorry to hear that, but I guess now it’s your turn.”

_For what?_

Homura smiles. “For tag.” Her other hand tightens into a fist. “You’re it.”

For a second or two, the girl gazes upon Homura like she’s the maiden of all enlightenment, like she’s given her the only answer she needs. It makes something bittersweet rise in Homura’s heart.

Then, the girl flickers out of sight but Homura thinks she has a new game to play now.

She hopes the other her will have just as much fun chasing time.

 

***

 

The next time Homura opens her eyes she sees a crying identical face.

This time she asks herself, “Have you learnt how to pull the trigger of a gun?”

A flinch comes up in response to her words. She guesses that this one is an entirely new incarnation, not the _Homura_ she’s met before.

(Yet a new pawn. How nice.)

 _I’m sorry_ , the newbie croaks. Her fingers twist her skirt into knots and already, she looks defeated, unaware of the bigger loop she’s unknowingly gotten caught in. Destiny, unforgivingly, has plans for her.

Homura only taps her forehead and says, “Tag, you’re it. Don’t worry, you’ll learn how to make explosives too.”

 

***

 

Homura has always known there’s been this little bit of poison in her. It roils up as glee at every copy of herself that pops up weeping at her feet ; she’s not actually unkind to them but she also doesn’t want to be the lone _Homura_ running after Madoka anymore so she weaves this web of tag around them tighter, so they’ll never escape— not that there were ever any outs in this game. She’s learnt that long ago.

She now closes her eyes in anticipation.

And eagerly opens them to play with the next familiar despair.

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Melanie Martinez's [Tag, You're It.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLYlMq6MU2s)


End file.
